LETTER: Don't dismiss the killing power of assault weapons

It is of course obvious what point Ronnie Delbacco thinks he is making in his Jan. 15 letter (“Pencils ruining society, need to be outlawed”), but in my opinion, anyone who is able to equate spelling mistakes with killing people has something seriously wrong with him.

I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation of why anyone needs an assault weapon with a magazine containing umpteen cartridges. In some sections of certain cities they are used to settle arguments — permanently. And all too often an innocent bystander is killed. I suppose this is supposed to be dismissed as “collateral damage.”